Tubular medical instruments of this type are used, for instance, in the configuration as needle holder, in endoscopic surgery. Because of increasingly stringent hygienic demands, it is more and more often required that tubular instruments, particularly those comprising hollow spaces such as hollow shafts, should be configured so that they can be at least partially dismantled so that they can be submitted to thorough cleansing and sterilization, preferably by steam.
A generic tubular medical instrument, configured as a medical forceps, is reported in DE 43 07 539 A1. This known tubular instrument can be broken down for cleansing and sterilization into three main groups: the push-pull rod, the hollow shaft, and the handle. The coupling mechanism for connecting the push-pull rod with the handle consists, in this construction, of a joint ball that is positioned on the proximal end of the push-pull rod, intended for insertion into a correspondingly formed coupling recess in the rotatable gripping member. This coupling has proved itself in the art, but it requires a very exact manufacturing of the push-pull rod.
Consequently it is the object of the present invention to perfect a tubular medical instrument in such a way that the push-pull rod and the handle can be detachably connected to one another by means of a coupling mechanism that is essentially without play and is easily manufactured.